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IBM Travelstar 8E and Windows Vista

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Hey there. I'm having a bit of a problem with the IBM Travelstar 8E running under Windows Vista Home Premium (32-bit).

I used the USB 1.1 port in one of the USB slots on the back of the ASUS G1S laptop and at first Windows Vista couldn't recognise the drive. So, I used the Databook drivers that came with the Travelstar 8E unit which has a 8.1 GB ATA/33 3 1/2" IDE hard disk. The laptop unit lacks PCMCIA slots as it uses a PCI Express card instead. Windows Vista treated the IBM Travelstar 8E as a removal drive.

Here are some certain issues that I have found when using the external unit:

1. The Travelstar 8E unit does not get recognised when viewing the Disk Management section of Computer Management. Only drives C and D are recognised. The Travelstar 8E is listed as drive E. The unit was recognised when it was used on the Toshiba Tecra 720CDT laptop with Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0 as well as the Compaq TC1000 tablet computer that I recently got. Also, I do not have the ability to change the drive letter of the portable USB device like I did in earlier versions of Windows.

2. When using the Event Viewer to troubleshoot errors, Events 6 and 8 are detected referencing to the Virtual Disk Service. Throwing error codes 80070032@0200000F for Event 6 and Error code: 32@02000017 for Event 8.

3. Looking at the Device Manager, listed under "Portable Devices", a yellow exclamation point is shown meaning that there is something wrong with the Microsoft WPC FileSystem Driver. When I click on the non-functioning device, I get this in the Device Status:

This device cannot start. (Code 10)

Click 'Check for solutions' to send data about this device to Microsoft and to see if there is a solution available.

4. Lastly, when looking at the device properties for the IBM-DYLA-28100 USB device, attempting to populate the volume of the device throws this error:

Volume

Volume information for this disk cannot be found.

Sorry for the information being unreadable, but for some reason, I uploaded these screenshots via Twitpic and it wouldn't let me view the original size of the image. Plus, I was also viewing the issue via the TightVNC client on my Windows 2000 machine.

I have tried to provide as much information as possible, but is there a way to correct this issue? If so, how would I do it?

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You won't be able to do anything with it unless the Code 10 is resolved. I can't find any sort of website to get official drivers from, is there any support URLs on the documentation or CD it came with? Currently, on that device with the Code 10, what is on the Driver tab?

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You won't be able to do anything with it unless the Code 10 is resolved. I can't find any sort of website to get official drivers from, is there any support URLs on the documentation or CD it came with? Currently, on that device with the Code 10, what is on the Driver tab?

Unfortunately, I can't find anything in regards to the Travelstar 8E when used on Windows Vista and up.

WpdFs.dll driver has a date stamp of 2009-09-30 17:01:52 and the WUDFRd.sys driver has a date stamp of 2012-07-25 18:32:51. Is there any updates to the files listed in the Drivers tab as far as I know?

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I tried to enable and disable the offending drive and it was no use. I used the Databook installation CD and I looked under the "\DataBook Install" directory and "\USB Win98" directory and here's what I found. I used the Dependency Walker in Windows Vista, looked at the file FALSTAFF.SYS and utility confirmed that it is missing two dependencies...

_USBD_CreateConfigurationRequestEx@8 and _USBD_ParseConfigurationDescriptorEx@28

As far as I know, these dependencies that used to exist in Windows 98 through Windows XP were removed in Windows Vista and later.

The ASUS G1S has four USB 2.0 ports on the back which is backwards compatible with USB 1.1 and a PCIExpress 54 slot which is incompatible with PCMCIA cards.

The FALSTAFF.SYS driver has a date stamp of 1999-06-19 18:50:00. So, I was lucky to uninstall the device from the CD which caused a reboot and had to remove the INF file and the non-functioning DataBook USB device afterwards.

When that was done, I had to reinstall the device. When I did, I was greeted with this message:

Windows needs to install driver software for your DataBook USB Cable

+ Locate and install driver software (recommended)

Windows will guide you through the process of installing driver software for your device.

-> Ask me again later

Windows will ask again the next time you plug in your device or log on.

+ Don't show this message again for this device

Your device will not function until you install driver software.

For a moment, Windows Vista was attempting to search a driver for the Travelstar 8E hard drive, but it couldn't find anything. When it couldn't do it, I was greeted with this message:

Insert the disc that came with your DataBook USB Cable

If you have your disc that came with your device, insert it now. Windows will automatically search the disc for your driver software.

If I try to install the Databook CD back into the laptop, it's only going to complain that the WPD FileSystem Driver needs to be installed every time I logon. But other than that, I got a message stating that Windows was unable to install the Travelstar 8E device.

How can I get around this issue without using the Databook driver CD?

Edited January 24, 2013 by ppgrainbow

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Its apparent that the built-in MS drivers for this device aren't suitable for use. You'll need to get some official drivers installed for this, in other words if the driver provider is Microsoft, that isn't the answer.

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Its apparent that the built-in MS drivers for this device aren't suitable for use. You'll need to get some official drivers installed for this, in other words if the driver provider is Microsoft, that isn't the answer.

Microsoft did not provide drivers for the Travelstar 8E when in use under Windows Vista and higher. The drivers were provided by Datazone Corporation which provided the drivers for DataBook when in use under Windows 95 OSR2 through Windows XP.

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When you have a problem when connecting (code 10) WHAT is the VEN_DEV listed under Device Manager? You didn't say - was it by chance LISTED in said link? WHICH ONE??? Without that, it would even be IMPOSSIBLE to "hack" something!

edit - hmmmm... yep, XP-down

www.samtack.com/TechSupportFAQ/techfaqHDDIBM.pdf

jaclaz asked

That thingy is "native" PCMCIA, right?

How exactly are you connecting the PCMCIA to the USB 1.1 port of the ASUS G1S?

You said

The ASUS G1S has four USB 2.0 ports on the back which is backwards compatible with USB 1.1 and a PCIExpress 54 slot which is incompatible with PCMCIA cards.

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If you're referring to the Microsoft WPD Filesystem Volume driver, the VEN_DEV listed in drive properties...it does not even have any information at all. It's just blank.

Is the VEN_DEV variable found in Hardware IDs under the Details tab in the Device Manager's Driver Properties? Just curious to ask.

In order to connect the IBM Travelstar 8E drive, I have to use one of the USB 2.0 devices and the unit is connected for the first time, I have to use the CD to get the drivers installed and it just will not work correctly under Windows Vista and higher due to lack of driver support. I can't use PCMCIA, because it doesn't have it. It only has a Express Card slot and you can't use PCMCIA cards in a Express Card slot.

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I checked the manual for the ASUS G1 laptop and on page 16, I find that it does have a PCMCIA 2.1 compliant PC card. So how am I connecting the unit to one of the USB slots?

I had to use the DataBook 5 volt AC/DC outlet power plug connected to a surge protector and then plug it into a USB slot.

The Travelstar 8E connects to a PCMCIA slot on the Compaq TC1000 and it works well without any problems.

If I still won't clearly answer more or if I complicated things of what I answered...I just don't know what to tell you. I find that it's just way too much work to get the Travelstar 8E device to work correctly under Windows Vista.

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I had to use the DataBook 5 volt AC/DC outlet power plug connected to a surge protector and then plug it into a USB slot.

??? Make no sense - isn't that POWER??? Or is that an additional USB Interface? I have found no reference to USB for the TravelstarE-series, only PCMCIA. Is that supposed to be a DATA+POWER Interface?

I supplied an actual photo. Can't make a simple diagram?

A->gazinta->B->gazinta->(etc) to clarify?

...and POTENTIALLY the 2K Drivers will install alright and function and a SERVICE gets installed. The DriverGuide link I gave will download a "downloader" (nothing installs) which you run and deselect crapware and decline stupidstuff. A ZIP file will wind up "somewhere" named "PCMCIA_2K.zip" for PCMCIA (how about that "gazinta" flowchart).

As for the PCMCIA on the Lappie, it's probably under a cover and contains the Wireless Card.

How about a pcmcia-to-usb adapter (pretty cheap) but your "Card" (part of the Travelstar) is probably 16-bit (OLD) so be aware. ALSO as I said, the Win2K drivers will probably work (unknown) BUT usually 2K drivers will work on XP and I've worked around an XP Driver for Vista/Win7. For that matter, get those 2K drivers and force an Install without connecting anything to see if it "works". I've installed NIC's that way even if they didn't physically exist.

Some motherboards have both a primary and a secondary IDE port. If the primary IDE port is enabled (most cases), the secondary IDE port is also enabled and cannot be disabled separately. Unless some other device is connected to the secondary port, Windows 95 cannot determine that the secondary Port Base 170 is already used. Windows 95 allocates the I/O resource normally used by the secondary IDE port (170Hex base and IRQ 15) to the PC Card. This results in a conflict and no drive letter or icon is assigned to the Travelstar E external drive.

HTH (and would still like a "gazinta" and an explanation of that "USB" you speak of).